The
original trial for Ramush Haradinaj and two former Kosovo Liberation Army
comrades was marred by intimidation that left two prosecution witnesses too
scared to testify, tribunal President Patrick Robinson said.
“The
trial chamber failed to appreciate the gravity of the threat that witness
intimidation posted to the trial's integrity,” Robinson said in ordering the
first retrial in the tribunal's 17-year history.
Haradinaj
had been accused along with Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj of abusing Serbs or
their supporters in 1998 as Kosovo battled for independence from Serbia, which
it eventually declared in 2008.
Judges
originally threw out all charges against Haradinaj and Balaj for lack of
evidence, but convicted Brahimaj on charges of torture and sentenced him to six
years. Appeals judges had later upheld Brahimaj's sentence.
“Given
the potential importance of these witnesses to the prosecution's case, the
error undermined the fairness of the proceedings and resulted in a miscarriage
of justice,” Robinson said.
Robinson
ordered Haradinaj, Balaj and Brahimaj retried on six counts of the original
indictment alleging murder, cruel treatment and torture of prisoners at a KLA
headquarters and prison in the town of Jablanica.
A date
for the retrial has yet to be set, and it is unclear if the frightened
witnesses would testify at the new hearings. Tribunal spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic
said the first step will be to appoint a new panel of judges for the case.
Haradinaj
showed no emotion in court Wednesday at Robinson's ruling and was taken into
custody along with Brahimaj. Balaj was not present in court.
Haradinaj's
lawyer Michael O'Reilly said he was “extremely surprised” by the decision.
“It is
something we could not have foreseen, particularly in view of his unambiguous
acquittal two years ago,” O'Reilly said in a statement sent to The Associated
Press.
“Our
concerns now are, first, to ensure Mr. Haradinaj's quick return to Kosovo and,
second, to get the earliest possible date for the partial retrial.” Serbia's
deputy war crimes prosecutor Bruno Vekaric hailed the court decision as a “big
victory for Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz and his team in their struggle for
the rights of the victims.” Belgrade often accuses the court of bias because
the vast majority of its suspects are Serbs.
Haradinaj
was working in western Europe as a nightclub bouncer and construction worker
when he returned to Kosovo to fight for its independence in the 1998-99
uprising against Serbia, and rose to become one of its most prominent rebel
commanders.
He was a
Western ally who harbored NATO special forces as they chose targets for
airstrikes in 1999 as the alliance bombed Serbia to end its crackdown on Kosovo.
Afterward,
he was seen as a political leader prepared to bridge the divide between Kosovo's
ethnic Albanians and its Serb minority. He formed the Alliance for the Future
of Kosovo, a political party known as AAK, and was elected prime minister in
December 2004.
But he
lasted just 100 days in office before quitting in March 2005 after learning of
the indictment against him and surrendering to authorities in The Hague.
Haradinaj
returned to head the opposition AAK after his acquittal, but the party has
struggled to regain the support it had enjoyed during his time as Kosovo's
prime minister.
Haradinaj's
deputy, Blerim Shala, told The Associated Press that Wednesday's ruling was “very
bad for the AAK, for the citizens and for Kosovo itself.” “We are extremely
surprised with the decision,” he said, “especially since Haradinaj was
previously acquitted of the charges by a unanimous decision.”
Wednesday's
decision came a day before the UN's highest judicial organ, the International
Court of Justice, is expected to issue a nonbinding advisory opinion on the
legality of Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence. Some 80 nations
including the United States have recognized Kosovo, but Serbia has never
accepted the legitimacy of that independence declaration.
The
retrial comes as the war crimes tribunal is under pressure from the Security
Council to wrap up its final cases and shut its doors for good.
The court
has finished cases against 129 of the 161 suspects indicted by prosecutors. Two
suspects remain on the run, former Bosnian Serb military chief Gen. Ratko
Mladic and Goran Hadzic, a former leader of Croatian Serbs.
The other
cases - including one against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic - are
still being tried or are in the appeals stage.
